The former firefighter and key Corbyn ally said he won’t hesitate to act against left-wing antisemitism

Prior to the attack, there have been concerned expressed about the way Israel is talked about in the education sector.

NEU boss Daniel Kebede was widely criticised for saying “globalise the intifada” at a pro-Palestine rally in 2021 – seen by many as a call for violence – although he insisted it was an expression “of support for civic protests; it did not convey any support for violence.”

At the Trades Union Congress last year, the Jewish Leadership Council accused the NEU of spreading “extreme hatred of Israel”, which failed to mention Hamas’ atrocities on October 7 and labelled Israel an “apartheid state” guilty of “ethnic cleansing”.

There were worries that in appointing Wrack – an enthusiastic supporter of Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership of the Labour Party – the NASUWT’s executive was seeking to go down a similar path.

“Many of us joined NASUWT after leaving other teaching unions which we felt no longer supported us. These unions embraced educationally unrelated political gesturing at the expense of giving proper representation to members. In appointing Matt Wrack, we fear NASUWT has joined this approach leaving Jewish teachers once again without satisfactory representation”, Jewish members of the NASUWT wrote in April.

Asked about his priorities at the helm of the union, Wrack said:

“One thing that stands out straight away is the question of the long-term investment in education.

“That lies behind lots of things. It lies behind the obvious bread and butter things like teachers’ pay. It also lies behind the forthcoming debate on Send (special educational needs and disabilities) and Education and Skills white paper”, he added.

Wrack is keen to convey that he will be a general secretary for all members and that he understands, and won’t ignore, left-wing antisemitism. 

But he is keen to defend his own record amid what he says are fictitious claims made about him.

“I've seen some very unpleasant comments on Facebook about me, and I have, frankly, considered legal action against some individuals for making false claims about things that I'm alleged to have said at speeches which I've never said”.

“I've always taken the issue of antisemitism very seriously as any other form of racism” he said.

He will be in the corner of any Jewish teacher facing antisemitism in the classroom: “I have made it clear that there should be systems in place whereby if there is any racist incident, including antisemitic incidents, that should be raised as a matter in the workplace with the employer. Action should be taken. Measures should be taken to protect that teacher or any other member of staff affected. That, to me, is a basic trade union issue that I would have done throughout my life and throughout my career.”

Since his election, officials from the union have met with CST, the Antisemitism Policy Trust and Lord Mann, the government’s independent advisor on antisemitism and say they will meet with the Board of Deputies in the next few weeks.

In a letter to Phillipson in June, he said that “more needs to be done to ensure schools and colleges are safe, respectful and inclusive environments for Jewish staff and pupils.”

And that he would “welcome the opportunity to meet with you to discuss what more can be done to support schools and colleges in tackling antisemitism, and how the Department can show visible leadership on this issue.”

But what about what Wrack has said about antisemitism that concerned Jewish teachers?

At a union conference in 2016 he made comments about “so-called antisemitism in the Labour Party … is about an attack on the Left, and it is about an attempt to undermine Jeremy Corbyn.”

However, he claims that some of his critics are deliberately twisting his words.

“What I said and what I warned FBU conference about is the need to be cautious and careful and respectful in the use of language, particularly around the use of the term Zionism. And I said there are many people who would describe themselves as Zionists, who hold a whole range of views, and be careful how you use that term if you don't fully understand it.

“And I'd made the point that, including in the campaign supporting Jeremy Corbyn, there were people who would describe themselves as Zionists. That was the context in which I made those comments”, Wrack said.

The union boss added robustly that his comments were made in the early days of Corbyn’s leadership of the Labour Party – before the scandal had reached the depths of Luciana Berger’s resignation and their investication by the EHRC – and that he has never personally made any comments that would stray into antisemitism.

“I have been very aware that there are people, including people who left, who make comments or potentially hold views, which might cross the line into antisemitism. I don't think I have ever done that.”

However, in 2018, Wrack criticised the decision by pro-Corbyn group Momentum to withdraw their support for Pete Willsman, after the member of the Labour Party’s governing body, the NEC, was recorded saying that Jewish “Trump fanatics” were making false claims of antisemitism in the party and denying the problem was widespread.

“I remember at the time listening to Willsman’s comments and concluding myself that this was, I think I use the term an angry rant, but I didn't believe it crossed the line into antisemitism”, he retorted.

“That was my assessment at the time. I would have to go and listen again to what Pete Willsman said”, Wrack claimed, adding: “I think anybody has the right to due process" and said criticised media coverage, which he said failed to take that into account.

But despite his robust defence of his past comments, he says he has no problem identifying and confronting antisemitism on the left.

He rejects the positions taken by “some on the left” to deny or downplay antisemitism in Labour under Corbyn, especially since the publication of the 2020 EHRC report: “I would disagree with their assessment of the situation”.

“If you look at the current debates on Gaza on social media, it doesn't take long, if you look down the comments, to get to antisemitic comments, and that is very noticeable to me, and it's pretty appalling”.

“I'm very I'm aware of that issue, I believe it's entirely possible to support the rights of the people of Gaza and the Palestinian people, without antisemitism”, he added.

According to Wrack, it shouldn’t be too difficult.

When challenged why some on the left seem at ease attacking the antisemitism of the far right, but less so on their own side, the union boss said: “I absolutely think that people on the left and people in the pro-Palestine movement need to be careful in their language. Also, frankly, we should dissociate ourselves from people who do, very clearly, cross that line”.

Wrack, he says, always held a more nuanced position on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict “compared with much of the of the left”.

While Labour figures, including Lord Mann, have in the past advocated for a “single, democratic, secular state of Palestine”.

That “was a mainstream position”, but never his position.

“I've always recognised that there are Jewish national rights in Israel, in the Middle East, and the solution to that is difficult. But, from the age of 16 onwards, I've had a more nuanced position than many people who talk a great deal today about antisemitism”.

Wrack is keen to emphasise to JC readers that he’s never shied away from taking tough and robust action when it comes to tackling discrimination: “I've dealt with some very difficult issues in the fire service about discrimination matters in an overwhelmingly white male workforce seeking to act as a trade unionist, protecting the rights of all members, including LGBT members, women members and black members, who, in some cases in that industry, have faced horrific incidents of discrimination.

“That doesn't always make you popular. I have also challenged union officials on that matter in my previous role, and that hasn't always made me popular. I will do exactly the same. That's part of who I am. I will never ignore injustice.”